Gender Wage Gap Closing in North Carolina?

Yesterday the Department of the Administration released a summary of their upcoming report on the status of women in North Carolina. The report found that women in North Carolina are now earning 83 cents for every dollar a man earns. This number shows progress since 2000, where women in North Carolina earned 78 cents for every dollar.

However, there is a problem with calling these numbers progress. The simple fact is that these numbers, showing a 5% increase over 12 years, do not control for what type of job these women are working. The study found that when you compare women and men who work the same job, women earn an average of 71 to 76 cents on the dollar.

This observation is also back by another study conducted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research showing the national gender wage gap controlled by industry sector. Their study found that women were making gains in less skilled positions, but were suffering huge losses in positions as CEOs and managers. This is best illustrated by a graph created by the Economist earlier this year.

The executive summary also seems to hint at the idea that the wage gap may also be an urban/rural issue. The study published a table demonstrating the regional differences in the gender wage gap. By this table, the Metropolitan Statistical areas on average have a greater gender wage gap than the rural areas. In this light, it will be interesting to hear what the final findings of this study are when they are published in January of 2013 and whether women are really making progress in today’s economy.